Can someone other than your referee write your UCAS reference letter?

I'm an international student taking a gap year, and am intending to apply for undergraduate study before the October 16 deadline. The custom at my school (one in which most students applied to the U.S.) was that you'd ask your teachers to write a letter of recommendation for you, and that same letter of recommendation would be sent by the college counselor alongside your applications. I did this, and have a letter of recommendation from a former teacher, that I intended to send to my school's college counselor (who would in theory paste that reference letter into my application, as I had intended to designate him as my referee. I did not ask the college counselor to write me a reference letter, as I hardly know him since he only joined the school after I graduated). Would this be fine? Or should I simply apply independently from the school and designate my former teacher as my referee?

(edited 6 months ago)

Reply 1

PQ

Clearing and Applications Advisor

21

It’s up to you. In uk schools normally each subject teacher will write a short reference and these will be combined into a single reference by one person.

Speak to the counsellor and send them your reference letter and the guidance for referees from ucas and ask what they want to do.

One thing that trips up lots of international applicants is that your reference has to be completed and attached before the deadline to let you submit your application

Reply 2

NachoG0526

OP

4

Original post by PQ

It’s up to you. In uk schools normally each subject teacher will write a short reference and these will be combined into a single reference by one person.

Speak to the counsellor and send them your reference letter and the guidance for referees from ucas and ask what they want to do.

One thing that trips up lots of international applicants is that your reference has to be completed and attached before the deadline to let you submit your application

Yeah, I honestly would rather simply have that teacher be my designated referee to begin with, as it would make the process a lot easier. My worry is that, in the case that I use my teacher's reference letter and designate my school's college counselor as my referee, universities will take issue with the fact that the entire letter would seem to be written by a person other than my designated referee. If this would not be an issue though, then everything should be set.

Reply 3

Admit-One

Universities Forum Helper

21

Original post by NachoG0526

My worry is that, in the case that I use my teacher's reference letter and designate my school's college counselor as my referee, universities will take issue with the fact that the entire letter would seem to be written by a person other than my designated referee. If this would not be an issue though, then everything should be set.

Uni's are very used to this. Most often whoever is collating the comments will identify relevant sections with things like "X's subject teacher confirms that/reports that...".

Can someone other than your referee write your UCAS reference letter?

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you